Always: Adage reports on a panel at the MPA conference that discussed Wal-mart’s role in the magazine industry.

Caught in the crease: More newsweekly cover fun. This time it’s US News & World Report that is stirring up a controversy with a “Reverse Z Gatefold” inside cover ad that some might argue is not appropriate because it places an ad ajacent to the magazine’s logo. The magazine’s publisher tells Folio: that it is “ASME kosher”. Oh, I almost forgot, the ad is for a new competitor to Viagra. (Make up your own punch line.) (via romenesko)

Custom publishing update: Advanstar’s Response magazine, and the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) have forged a custom publishing agreement.
According to the terms, Response magazine will provide exclusive U.S.
publishing services to the ERA for specialized projects such as the ERA
Membership Directory and the ERA Annual Show Guide.

A custom publishing lesson before dying: The NY Times is reporting that Book Magazine will cease publication after the November issue.

Listen,
class. Here is the first thing you need to learn from this news: Custom
(or custom-er) published magazines are not the same thing as
traditionally published and distributed magazines. There are many,
many, many similarities and overlaps, but you have to understand the
differences if you are going to succeed.

When the magazine Book was announced in February, 2002, I posted a rather long comment on the rexblog
regarding the misguided perception its publishers appeared to have
about its role. I said then it was a customer magazine and that it
could be profoundly effective if recognized and utilized as such.

However,
the publishers chose to pretend their dependency on Barnes & Noble
was a circulation or distribution strategy. Then, in March of this
year, they began to see the light. But obviously, it was too late by then.

As
one can deduce from the “recently read roll” on the left column of each
rexblog page, I’m a fairly active purchaser of books (and, fortunately,
I have some “friends in the book industry” who send review copies
ocassionally). I belong to the Barnes & Noble frequent purchaser
program (whatever it is called) and I would guess that, despite my
preference for the wonderful quasi-independent bookstore, Davis-Kidd, I
still do enough book buying at BN to hit their top 25% list.

However,
I have never received a copy of Book. It has never been used to help BN
create a deeper relationship with me, to introduce me to new titles I
might enjoy, to surround me in a BN experience in a way that only a
magazine can do.

Sorry. This magazine failed not because it was a bad magazine. It failed because it realized far too late what it was.

Lucky us, a shopping vaporzine: Keith Kelly is reporting (look quickly, these links only last a day) that Hearst is knocking off Lucky.

Quote:

Spurred on by the success of Lucky at Conde Nast, sources told Media Ink that Hearst has completed work on its own prototype for a shopping magazine, being put together by former Mademoiselle Editor Mandi Norwood. Hearst President Cathleen Black would not confirm the completion of the prototype, but did tell Media Ink, “We think it is original, we think it is fresh, we think it is exciting and we hope to bring it to market.” As to when, she said, “We’re not there yet.”

The rexblog prediction for the title: O at the Mall